Justice League: Four Horsemen
by Simon Psyc
Summary: A Justice League cartoon fic. In the scene of a nuclear apocolipse, is the Justice League truly powerless?


It all happened so fast. One second we were a troop of happy go lucky   
Superfriends. Before we knew it we were the last bastion of Justice in   
a world in chaos.  
  
***  
  
Batman  
  
I stood at a console in the Justice League satellite. J'onn sat at   
another, Hawkgirl was in the fight simulator. The rest were all back   
on Earth on their own separate missions.  
  
Suddenly, J'onn cried out. I turned as he clutched his head and collapsed   
to the ground.  
  
"J'onn! What is it!?"  
  
J'onn tried to regain control of himself. He was breathing heavily.   
"Bombs," he managed to choke out, "Four of them. Heading toward the U.S."  
  
"Nuclear warheads!?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Hawkgirl!" I shouted, simultaneously going to a computer and contacting   
the rest of the League.  
  
"What is it?" Hawkgirl asked, walking up behind me.  
  
"Nuclear warheads," as I spoke a U.S. map appeared on the screen, the   
four missiles streaking towards it. "Green Lantern! Superman! Wonder   
Woman! Get on it!"  
  
"Dear God," Hawkgirl muttered.  
  
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocolipse."  
  
"Well let's get to the Javelin! Quick!"  
  
"There's no use. We won't be able to get to Earth in time. As much as   
we hate it, all we can do is watch."  
  
We can't be powerless. We refuse to be powerless. But right now, there's   
not a damn thing we can do.  
  
***  
  
Wonder Woman  
  
I was the closest to them when I got the call about the bombs. I rushed   
to the coordinates Batman had given and, sure enough, there they were.   
Without thought, I grabbed my lasso and threw it around one of them.   
I pulled as hard as I possibly could, and it began to slow. I held out   
for a few minutes, straining my muscles, until finally the lasso slipped   
from my grip.  
  
I swore and dove forward, trying to sieze my rope. That's when, unbeknownst   
to me, the Green Lantern showed up. He immediately used his ring to   
generate a shield in front of the missiles, grinding them almost to a   
halt. All of this happened without my noticing. When I realized it,   
I couldn't stop fast enough. I screamed as I was thrust uncontrollably   
into the flames of the rocket. The world went dark.  
  
***  
  
Green Lantern  
  
I channeled every bit of energy I had into stopping those damn rockets.  
But they kept pushing harder.  
  
"Where is Superman!?" I shouted into my radio link.  
  
"He was halfway across the globe," Batman's voice echoed in my ear,   
"Probably saving a kitten or some crap like that. He's on his way."  
  
"Tell him to hurry! I can't hold out for long, and I can't defuse a   
bomb!"  
  
What seemed like an eternity later, Superman zoomed into view.  
  
"John! Are you o--"  
  
"JUST DEFUSE THEM! I CAN'T DO THIS MUCH LONGER!" They had started to   
veer downward, which meant we were nearing their target. I felt like   
I was about to die from all the effort I had to extend, only for them   
to keep moving, however slowly. "Where is Wonder Woman!?"  
  
Batman's voice piped in again, but it was troubled, struggling. "John..."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"I lost her."  
  
"No..."  
  
"Don't let it distract you! Concentrate! Superman, start defusing!"  
  
Superman pulled off a panel, and began to cross some wires.  
  
"HURRY!" I shouted. I could feel the ground getting nearer, I tried to   
push harder. "Haven't you even got the first one yet!?"  
  
"This is delicate business! It takes time!"  
  
"Time is not a luxury we have! You're Superman, speed it up a little!"  
  
But it was too late. Before Superman had even gotten one missile defused,   
I hit the ground and was knocked unconscious, never to wake again.  
  
***  
  
Batman  
  
"Lantern!? LANTERN!?" I threw the microphone to the ground and slumped   
down in a chair. Hawkgirl leaned against a bay window, watching as a   
mushroom cloud appeared. A tear rolled down her cheek.  
  
"Are they...?"  
  
"Lantern can't have survived. We know Wonder Woman is gone. Flash was   
nearby, his commlink has been cut off. I think Superman should still   
be alive, since the bombs weren't kryptonite."  
  
"Forgive me if that doesn't thrill me."  
  
"Come on. Let's get to the Javelin now."  
  
"What about him?" she gestured to J'onn, laying unconscious on the ground.  
  
"Leave him. Here, take a radiation suit. That place'll be a hotbed of   
nuclear rays."  
  
A long ride later we were at ground zero, and I could barely stand to   
look at all the carnage. Total destruction. I'd never seen anything   
like it. But I was on a mission- find Superman and, God willing, Flash.  
  
"Batman!" Hawkgirl called from above, "I see him!" She swooped down,   
grabbed both my hands, and back up. I saw him too, laying with torn   
clothes on the ground not too far away. Hawkgirl sped toward him,   
landing less than two yards away from him and dropping me even closer.  
I knealt over Superman and lifted his head.  
  
"Who is that?" Superman choked out, his eyes closed tight.  
  
"It's Batman. And Hawkgirl."  
  
"Batman... I didn't close my eyes."  
  
"What?" Hawkgirl whispered.  
  
Superman opened his eyes. They were clouded, misty.  
  
I shuddered, I was almost going to cry. His eyes had been open when the   
bombs hit. The defender of truth, justice and the American way was   
blind.  
  
Together, Hawkgirl and I lifted Superman and brought him back to the   
Javelin.  
  
After a few grueling hours of searching, I located Flash. He was still   
alive, but a beam had fallen on him.  
  
"Hawkgirl!" I called into my ear radio.  
  
"Batman..." Flash muttered.  
  
"Don't worry, help is on the way."  
  
Hawkgirl and I lifted the beam off Flash, but what we found wasn't   
pretty. His legs were completely gone. The one thing that had mattered   
to Flash was gone.  
  
"No!" he shouted, "It can't be! No!"  
  
Flash kept shouting incoherently as we took him back. I don't know why   
we bothered. Even without the radiation, he'd be dead of blood loss soon   
anyway.  
  
"There's nothing we can do here," I said as we walked away from the   
Javelin again. "Let's go past the outskirts of the blast. There's   
bound to be chaos out there. Maybe we can bring some order."  
  
I was right. There was rioting, looting, mass panic. We split up and   
went seeking something we could help with. I'm not entirely sure when   
I lost the connection with Hawkgirl, but my earpiece radio turned to   
static eventually. She was dead. I didn't shed a tear. As far as   
I was concerned, we'd died the second those bombs hit.  
  
I tried to get the mob to quit looting, but there was no stopping them.  
I gave up that pursuit and moved on to another- a thug holding a gun on an   
old lady.  
  
"You! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?" I dove at the guy,   
knocking him to the ground. In the struggle, his gun went off, piercing   
me through the heart.  
  
After all the villians, all the adventures, all the dangers, who would   
have thought that the Batman would be felled by a single thug with a gun.  
  
***  
  
J'onn J'onzz  
  
I clutched my aching head, which was filled with images of pain, destruction,   
and injustice. Of my friends being killed.  
  
I was the last surviving Martian. Now I was the last member of the   
Justice League. I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't be the last surviving   
inhabitant of Earth. 


End file.
